Stakeholders meet to discuss Early Childhood Education
~~Adz:Right~~ Basseterre, St. Kitts - Bridgetown/30 October 2008. Stakeholders in St Kitts and Nevis’ education sector will gather next week to fine-tune polices to guide the country’s early childhood education programme.
The one-day Early Childhood Policy Consultation, sponsored by the Government of St Kitts and Nevis in collaboration with the UNICEF Barbados and Eastern Caribbean Office, will bring together government officials, owners of early childhood facilities, teachers, caregivers and parents.
The main aim of the national consultation is to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to review the draft policy document with a view to making final recommendations before the documents are submitted to Cabinet for approval.
Additionally, the November 4 consultation at the St Kitts Marriots Resort will seek to build awareness and understanding among stakeholders on the contents and implications of the proposed Early Childhood Policy.
Members of the public and stakeholders already had an opportunity to share their views on areas they wanted included in the national policy through a series of consultations held throughout the country.
Tom Olsen, UNICEF Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, said the conference was coming at a time when the sub-region was placing a lot of emphasis on not only access to, but the quality of education in the early childhood sector.
“Early childhood education is an important investment and dialogue such as the national consultation will go a long way towards ensuring that St Kitts and Nevis, and indeed the wider sub region, begin to make the type of investment which will ensure that children have access to quality early childhood care and education .
Formal early childhood education programmes in St Kitts and Nevis predates the abolition of slavery but presently only 54 per cent of children between the ages of birth and five participate in early childhood education programmes.
Over 60 per cent of the centres are owned by private operators, 23 per cent by government and 11 per cent by the church.
